Woman charged in death of kids returns to hospital

A judge has ordered a 23-year-old New Orleans mother sent back to a mental hospital to await trial in the deaths of her two children.

Chelsea Thornton is accused of shooting her 3-year-old son in the head then turning the gun on her 4-year-old daughter. When the weapon jammed, she allegedly drowned the girl in the bathtub next to her brother's dead body.

The Advocate reports an Orleans Parish judge found Thursday that Thornton's mental state remains too fragile to risk returning her to the city's jail.

Thornton, diagnosed with a severe mood disorder, was deemed incompetent to stand trial in January and sent a state mental hospital in Jackson for treatment. In April, doctors testified that her condition had stabilized and she was competent to participate in her own defense.